Chapter Ten: Dark Secrets (Really gonna try not to end this one on a cliffhanger) I didn't think I could hear anything else as crazy or completely shocking as hearing that James was my dad. I was wrong. Hearing that Aunt Opal was my mother went from shocking to laughable. There was no way Aunt Opal could be mine and Bishop's mom. Perhaps James wasn't even my father, just someone who... mistook me? Though he knew our names. He knew about us. But there was no way he was right about Aunt Opal. That would mean that everything Mom ever said to us was a lie, and I knew that wasn't true. I'd only ever heard of Aunt Opal. If she was really my mother, why would she never visit? It didn't make sense. "You're really going to suggest that Aunt Opal is our mother? That Mom lied to us?" I turned to see Bishop speaking quite fiercely to James. James looked confused. Maybe spending too much time here, this other-worldly place, had addled his brain. Well that's what happens when you leave your family for a magical fantasy world, I think. "I agree with Bishop. There's no way Aunt Opal is our mother." I say. "Yeah, and how would you know? You've been stuck here for, what, ten years now?" Bishop chips in. "I knew you when you were babies." James said, looking remorseful. "Well, Aunt Opal could have lied to you. You don't really know that we're her children." Bishop says. James sighs, looking tired. "How can I prove to you that Opal is your mother?" "How about some actual proof? Not counting the word of a stranger we just met," she says, though she does look a little guilty when she sees the flash of hurt cross his face. Even if he is our father, we still just met him. At least he saved us from those creepy shadow-monsters. (Continue Below)
"I don't really have any proof to offer you." "Then how can you expect us to believe you? It's like saying," You should believe this crazy thing without any proof whatsoever, simply because I said it's true"." I say, starting to feel annoyed with James. Bishop suddenly turns around and starts walking. "Come on, Rook. Let's go. We'll figure out how to get out of this world by ourselves." As much as I don't want to disagree with her, I can't agree. The shadow-monsters will find us, and without him, they might catch us. And, despite the fact he thinks Aunt Opal is our mother, he probably still can tell us a lot. And he knows all about this world. Even though there's no way Aunt Opal is my real mother, I still feel a little doubt sink in. He knew who we are, so why couldn't he be right about this? Cecily never mentioned our father, never wore a ring, so how do I know she was married at all? And Bishop looks so much like Aunt Opal... but even if it is true, I don't want to believe it. I don't want to believe that my mother abandoned me, and never bothered to visit me or Bishop. That she had her own sister raise us as her own. Bishop is looking at me. "Well?" She asks. I swallow the uncomfortable lump in my throat. "Bishop, I think we should stay with him." I say tentatively. Her eyes widen in shock. "Stay with him? But he wants us to believe that Mom isn't, well, our mom." She says, and from her expression I can tell she doesn't at all believe that Mom isn't our mom. "I still think we should stay. He did save us from those shadow-monsters." Bishop sighs. "Fine, I'll stay. But I will not believe that Aunt Opal is our mom." James nodds. "I think you owe us an explanation. To why you're here. To why you think Aunt Opal is our mother. What this world is." I have waited long enough for the truth. Chapter Eleven:
